The present invention relates generally to portable shelters. More specifically, the present invention relates to a portable shelter that is particularly suited for ice fishing activities while being easily transported and having sufficient structure and mass to adequately protect the inhabitant from the inclement weather conditions generally associated with ice fishing.
The sport of ice fishing has become extremely popular in recent times. Since ice fishing is performed outdoors in generally difficult weather conditions, the ice-fisherman usually requires some sort of shelter from the elements. Therefore, with the increase in popularity of ice fishing, there has been a corresponding increase in the demand for ice fishing shelters. To fill this need, sportsmen have historically used small huts or shelters for protection against adverse weather conditions often associated with winter sports such as ice fishing. In particular, ice fishermen customarily build small, ice fishing shacks on the surface of a frozen pond or lake and then fish through a hole cut through the ice within the shack or immediately adjacent the shack. A typical ice fishing hut is relatively large and is not portable. The shelter is constructed much like a garden shed utilizing well known wood framing techniques. Due to the cumbersome nature of this type construction, generally the shelter must be erected in place on the ice of a frozen lake, then disassembled and removed at the end of the ice fishing season.
In an attempt to overcome the lack of portability, there are numerous and diverse portable ice fishing shelters disclosed in the prior art. Portable shelters provide an alternative to conventional ice fishing huts or shanties. Portable ice fishing shelters typically found in the prior art generally resemble tents which can be erected at the ice fishing site. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,954,076 discloses a tent structure that is configured to be erected in truck beds. The structure is simply an arrangement of tent poles with a fabric shell stretched over the poles. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 4,263,925 provides tent poles that are erected by inserting the poles into stake wells typically found in the side walls of most pick-up trucks. Again, the frame, once erected is then covered with a fabric shell.
To reduce the dependency on the pick-up truck structure as a key supporting element for such temporary structures, U.S. Pat. No. 5,341,588 discloses a portable structure that has a bottom platform onto which tent poles are erected and again a fabric shell is stretched over the poles. Skids are provided on the underside of the bottom platform to facilitate sliding of the shelter to the desired location. Similarly, other portable shelters have been proposed which combine the features of a collapsible hut with a sled for transporting the unit over the ice such as the device shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,397,870. This device also includes a bottom hull member that allows the unit to float in the event that the ice breaks. Still other collapsible portable shelters have been proposed wherein the unit is turned on end prior to use.
The difficulty is that such prior art portable, collapsible shelters suffer from a variety of disadvantages. While all of the aforementioned prior art constructions are more than adequate for the basic purpose and function for which they have been specifically designed, they are uniformly deficient with respect to their failure to provide a simple, efficient, practical and safe portable shelter that can be transported to and from a fishing spot while requiring a minimal amount of effort to erect and maintain the shelter once in position. Additionally, while the presently available ice fishing shelters are somewhat successful, another shortcoming is that they generally provide only enough space to comfortably seat one occupant in the shelter.
Another shortcoming in the prior art is that If more than one fisherman is going on the expedition, several shelters must be provided, or a single shelter that is extremely cumbersome and unwieldy to transport, set up and use must be provided. Such means of accommodating plural fisherman can also be expensive. U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,155,279 and 4,465,316 both disclose such structures. The devices are generally bulky and while means are provided to remove the structures from the pick-up truck bed are provided, they are generally intended to be set in place in the pick-up truck and used in conjunction therewith. Further, these structures are large and in order to provide sufficient head room for the occupants of the structure, the structure must necessarily extend well above the roof line of the pick-up truck in which they are transported providing undesirable windage against these surfaces when transporting the structure over long distances.
Further, as most people who engage in ice fishing are all too well aware, variable ice conditions represent a very real and potential deadly danger that every year claims the lives of several participants in this otherwise enjoyable sport. There is only one prior art portable shelter construction that is designed to keep the occupant of the shelter afloat when faced with catastrophic ice failure and this shelter is limited to a single occupant.
Accordingly, as a consequence of the foregoing situation, there has existed a longstanding need for a new and improved type of portable ice fishing shelter that provides a safe and secure buoyant shelter that substantially envelops the occupant of the shelter in the event of an ice failure and accommodated several occupants at a time. There is yet a further need for a portable ice fishing shelter that can accommodate more than one fisherman and all of the necessary gear, yet is easily stored, set up and transported.